The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Astilbe, botanically known as Astilbe chinensis and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘To Have and To Hold’.
The new Astilbe is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Heemskerk, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to create new Astilbe cultivars with healthy foliage and attractive flower coloration.
The new Astilbe originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1998 in Heemskerk, The Netherlands, of two unidentified selections of Astilbe chinensis, not patented. The new Astilbe was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Heemskerk, The Netherlands in July, 1999.
Asexual reproduction of the new Astilbe by divisions in a controlled environment in Heemskerk, The Netherlands since January, 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Astilbe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.